History

Gymnastics Festival

The first "Gymnastics Festival" (İdman Bayramı) was held at the
sport meadow of Kadıköy İttihad Sports (Union Club until 1915) by Erkek Muallim Mektebi (Teachers' College for Boys) with personal enterprise of
Selim Sirri Bey (Tarcan),[2] who was the Inspector of the Ministry of Education of the Ottoman Empire at the time. According to some sources, it was held on May 12, 1916, as to Faik Reşit Unat, in May 1916, as to Selim Sırrı Tarcan himself, on April 29, 1916.[3] Selim Sirri Bey had brought a score of the
Swedish folk music titled
Tre trallande jäntor ("Three carolling girls") and collected by
Felix Körling.[4] This folk music became
"Dağ Başını Duman Almış" marşı with Turkish lyrics written by
Ali Ulvi Bey (Elöve) in 1917[5] and sung in this festival for the first time.[6]

Mustafa Kemal and his staff left Samsun on May 24 for transferring their headquarters to the village of Karageçmiş in
Havza district. According to Hamza Eroğlu, they sang the march Dağ Başını Duman Almış while marching from Samsun to Havza,[8] and according to
Şevket Süreyya Aydemir, they also sang this song after leaving Havza to go to
Amasya.[9]

Atatürk then said "It is a day about the liberation of our country." Still, his friends couldn't identify the correct event. Some time later, Şükrü Kaya said "Was this the day when you left Istanbul?", and Atatürk replied "You came closer... It was the day that we landed in Samsun." Atatürk went on to say "This day will be a festival that we'll celebrate." Next year, "May 19" was celebrated with Şükrü Kaya's arrangement.[10]

Until then, "May 19" wasn't given any special meaning, besides Atatürk's expression "Gentlemen, I landed in Samsun on the nineteenth day of May of the year 1919"[dn 2] in his book, Nutuk.[10]

With the Law No. 3466 dated June 20, 1938, "May 19" was officialized as the Festival of Youth and Sports. The march Dağ Başını Duman Almış was announced as the Gençlik ve Spor Bayramı Marşı (March of the Festival of Youth and Sports, popularly known as the Gençlik Marşı).[11]